Professor Mariana Mazzucato, RM Phillips Professor of Science and Technology at the University of Sussex

Professor Paul Workman, Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Cancer Therapeutics, The Institute for Cancer Research LondonJeremy Webb, Editor-in-Chief, New Scientist

Discussing big themes: innovation in times of austerity and how we nurture scientific innovators

Generating ideas: how to ensure that innovation is really valued and invested in

How do we nurture innovation in times of austerity? Who funds it? Does a lack of money encourage inventiveness or does it stifle innovation as everyone plays it safe? And what about the innovators of the future? Are we doing enough to nurture and support talent?

In a tough economic climate, innovation cannot be sacrificed. It is the lifeblood of science, technology and the economy. There is an urgent need to focus on how best to promote and nurture innovation - today and in the future.

That is why The Innovation Debate 2012 - organised and funded by Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., at the Royal Society, at 4pm on Tuesday 20thNovember 2012, is bringing together influential and respected figures from the worlds of science, technology, medicine, engineering, education, government, industry and media to discuss how best to encourage and nurture scientific innovation.

Chaired by physicist, author and broadcaster Professor Jim Al-Khalili, and with panellists including Nobel prize- winning physicist Professor Sir Andre Geim, the co-founder and former president of technology company ARM Tudor Brown, broadcaster and physicist Professor Brian Cox, and the Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Cancer Therapeutics at The Institute for Cancer Research London Professor Paul Workman, The Innovation Debate will examine how we can prevent today's economic and budgetary pressures from jeopardising innovation for current and future generations.

The aim of The Innovation Debate is to air crucial issues, draw positive conclusions and to move the agenda forward.

Everyone - professionals in science and technology, students and the general public - will have the opportunity to engage with The Innovation Debate through online media which will take discussions far beyond the walls of the Royal Society.

"The Innovation Debate is a timely event," says Professor Jim Al-Khalili. "The world of science and technology needs to reclaim the very word 'innovation'. So how can we encourage innovation in today's age of austerity - and how do we ensure we have the innovators of the future? We need to consider how we can maximise the chances of producing innovative ideas from our scientists and technologists and how we should train the next generation of scientists and engineers.

"Like every other field of endeavour, scientific research is under pressure for funding - but what are the implications of, say, cutting funding for basic research if its economic or societal benefits are not immediately evident? And how might innovation suffer as a result? These are the kind of questions we will be discussing at The Innovation Debate."

Among the subjects for debate on 20th November are: 'How to innovate in a time of austerity?' and 'How best to nurture innovation?'

Join the Innovation Debate 2012

The Innovation Debate will encourage wider participation from the public and science community via the website. Everyone will have the opportunity to share their views on the critical challenges facing science and innovation raised by The Innovation Debate and to submit a question to the panel of experts. To watch the live webcast of the Debate from 4pm on 20thNovember 2012, register FREE today at http://www.innovationdebate.com

Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., located in the UK, is the European headquarters of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc. Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceuticals. The organisation's focus is to deliver outstanding R&D and marketing to continue growing in the world pharmaceutical market. Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. is responsible for 21 affiliate offices located across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, an R&D site and three manufacturing plants. The company employs approximately 4,300 staff across these regions. For more information about Astellas Pharma Europe, please visit http://www.astellas.eu.

Between 2005 and 2020, data volumes will grow by a factor of 300 – enough data to stack CDs from the earth to the moon 162 times. This has come to be known as the ‘big data’ phenomenon. Unfortunately, traditional approaches to handling, storing and analyzing data aren’t adequate at thi...

In his general session at 19th Cloud Expo, Manish Dixit, VP of Product and Engineering at Dice, discussed how Dice leverages data insights and tools to help both tech professionals and recruiters better understand how skills relate to each other and which skills are in high demand usin...

Cloud Expo, Inc. has announced today that Andi Mann returns to 'DevOps at Cloud Expo 2017' as Conference Chair
The @DevOpsSummit at Cloud Expo will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
"DevOps is set to be one of the most profound disruptions to hi...

20th Cloud Expo, taking place June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world.
Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. ...

With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing IoT strategies, now is the perfect time to attend @ThingsExpo 2016 in New York. Learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is as "IoT-Ready" as it can be! Internet of @ThingsExp...

Kubernetes is a new and revolutionary open-sourced system for managing containers across multiple hosts in a cluster. Ansible is a simple IT automation tool for just about any requirement for reproducible environments. In his session at @DevOpsSummit at 18th Cloud Expo, Patrick Galbrai...